Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and to get you in the mood, we've pulled together some romantic materials available at Carnegie-Stout Public Library. If you're coming into the library, you can check out our display by the Recommendations Desk. You can also pick up one of ten different reading suggestion cards:


The cards were made with The Card Catalog Generator, and you can check out an inexpensive Valentine's craft idea using the card generator here: Card Catalog of Love Craft

Each summer, the Romance Writers of America hold an award ceremony called the RITAs to honor the best of that year's romance writing. You can take a look at past winners on their website here: RITA Awards. The library might not own all of the titles, but if you see something you'd love to read, you can fill out a Purchase Suggestion form!

You can browse the catalog for romantic movies by following this link: Romantic Movies

If romantic comedies are more your style, you can check out the catalog here: Romantic Comedy Movies

Or, if you'd like, you can watch the first kiss recorded on film, courtesy of The Library of Congress:

February is Black History Month

How much do you know about the history of African-Americans in Iowa and the United States? For instance, did you know that the first Iowa Supreme Court decision declared a slave working in Dubuque a free man?

In the early 1830s a Man named Ralph Montgomery heard that a fortune could be made in the Dubuque lead mines. In the spring of 1834 Ralph's owner, Jordan Montgomery wrote an agreement giving Ralph permission to travel to Dubuque from Missouri. Ralph promised to to pay Jordan $550 plus interest in return for his freedom.

Ralph went to work in the lead mines but never made enough money to buy his freedom. Two slave-catchers captured Ralph and offered to return him to his owner for $100. Iowa was a free territory and fortunately for Ralph, Alexander Butterworth, a concerned eye-witness saw Ralph's capture. With the aid of Judge T.S. Wilson and a court order Butterworth rescued Ralph from his captors just in time.

Ralph's freedom rested in the hands of the newly established Iowa Supreme Court and Judge Wilson, one of Iowa's first judges. The case called "The Matter of Ralph (a colored man)," made history as the first decision of the Iowa Supreme Court. On Independence Day, 1839 Ralph was declared a free man.

About a year after the hearing, the same judge saw Ralph again, working in the garden behind the judge's house. He asked Ralph what he was doing and Ralph replied, "I ain't paying you for what you done for me. But I want to work for you for one day every Spring to show you that I never forget." Ralph was true to his word.
(Adapted from original article by Elaine Croyle Bezanson, The Goldfinch 16: No. 4 (Summer 1995). Iowa City: State Historical Society of Iowa.
© State Historical Society of Iowa)

To find more about the history of African-Americans in Iowa including the story of Ralph Montgomery go to http://www.iptv.org/iowapathways/mypath.cfm?ounid=ob_000238

Would you like more information? Check out one of the following websites:

http://www.blackhistory.com/
A website that celebrates black history every month.

http://afroamhistory.about.com/
Ongoing blog featuring posts about black history and events in the United States.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/
An online guide to African-American history and culture.

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history-month
Videos, speeches, photo galleries and interactive resources specific to black history month.

http://www.blackfacts.com
Facts about African-Americans throughout history.

http://www.biography.com/blackhistory
A collection of biographies about influential African-Americans throughout history.

To find more resources available at Carnegie-Stout Public Library see the display at the Recommendations desk on the first floor.

Dubuque's Haunted History by Richard A. Barker

Instead of telling you about a book I have enjoyed reading, I am going to tell you about a book I am anxious to read. Dubuque’s Haunted History by Richard A. Barker will be published on February 14, 2011 by Arcadia Publishing.

Barker is a local author and principal investigator for Big Muddy Ghost Hunters in Dubuque. Mike Gibson from the Center for Dubuque History at Loras College wrote the preface and provided many of the photographs used in the book. Arcadia is the same company that published the James Schaffer/John Tigges pictorial books on Dubuque history.

Instead of looking for valentines this year, I’ll be looking for ghosts!

~Betty from Adult Services

The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

What comes to mind when you hear the words “Salem witch trials?” If you are of a literary bent, you might think of Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible or Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables. One of Hawthorne’s relatives was a Salem magistrate, and another was actually a judge at the witchcraft trials. His family history and Puritan background impacted his writing. Miller used the events from Salem in 1692 to stage his political views of the 1950’s McCarthy era so-called witch hunts for communists.

Writing more recently than Hawthorne or Miller, Kathleen Kent, author of the historical fiction novel The Heretic’s Daughter, traces her ancestry back nine generations to Thomas and Martha Carrier. Kent uses her family history to craft a tale of Martha’s daughter Sarah, who, along with her mother and brothers, is accused of witchcraft. Nine-year old Sarah is the narrator of the story, which is rich in historical detail and emotionally powerful.

Families living in Massachusetts almost a century before the Revolutionary War deal with smallpox, Indian attacks and primitive conditions, unheard of in modern day America, but mother-daughter, brother-sister and other family interactions are timeless. Rumors, accusations of witchcraft, formal charges, arrest and imprisonment shatters some families; the Carrier family becomes stronger.

Some critics find The Heretic’s Daughter too slow moving. I was intrigued; I read the book in two days. I want to read The Wolves of Andover, Kent’s prequel to her debut, but it is checked out. While I am waiting to read the story of Sarah’s parents, I’ve been studying the University of Virginia’s amazing archive of documents from the Salem trials. Next I will reread The Crucible and The House of the Seven Gables. One good read leads to another. Now for trip to New England to view the settings . . .

~ Michelle, Adult Services

Castle Waiting by Linda Medley

I’m a great fan of fairy tales and have spent many happy hours poring over the more obscure corners of the Grimm brothers’ stories (if you’ve never read The Mouse, The Bird, and The Sausage, I recommend it highly). However, even the most avid fairy tale reader may tire of their emphasis on plot over character development and bemoan the lack of strong, interesting women. In Castle Waiting, Linda Medley rights both these wrongs and produces an enchanting graphic novel that Publishers Weekly called “a modern, feminist Chaucer for happy people.”

The titular castle serves as a safe haven for a small group of social outcasts including a bearded nun from an unusual order and a widow whose giant husband was murdered by a bigoted young “hero” named Jack. The main storyline follows Jain, a pregnant woman who comes to the castle to escape an abusive husband. No one pushes her for details about her past, but everyone’s curiosity is piqued when her baby turns out to be less than human.

Ultimately, the mystery of Jain’s past takes a backseat to the simple pleasure of watching the interactions of the cast of well-developed and likable characters. Domestic affairs such as patching a roof or tending the goats are enlivened by Medley’s detailed and expressive art and her clear affection for her subjects. Over time, the characters reveal themselves through numerous flashbacks. Much of the first volume is devoted to the history of the bearded nuns of St. Wilgeforte, many of whom joined the convent to escape mistreatment in traveling circuses.

Castle Waiting is largely devoid of the sword-fights and derring-do that some readers may expect from their fairy tales. Instead, the patient reader will joy a leisurely sojourn filled with gentle humor and smart, kind women.

~Andrew, Adult Services